1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven having a microcomputer therein and operating in accordance with cooking programs stored in the microcomputer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional microwave oven having a microcomputer, cooking programs stored in the microcomputer are selected and determined in the following manners.
According to a first method, a menu code (numerical code) is assigned to the cooking program for each menu. Therefore, the cooking program of a desired menu can be called up when an operator inputs the menu code of the desired menu, through depression of a numerical key provided in a controlling part of the microwave oven, with reference to the menu codes described in an accompanying cookbook.
According to a second method, a core menu is set among one category of menus (meat, chicken, vegetables, drinks, etc.), and the cooking program for the core menu (basic cooking program) is set. Cooking programs for the other menus belonging to the same category as the core menu are designed and set through modification of the basic cooking program. In the above-described manner, cooking programs are prepared for several kinds of categories of menus. Moreover, a switch exclusively used for calling up the cooking program of a specific menu is provided for each category of menus. The names of the categories and of the menus in each category are indicated on a control unit panel of a controlling part of the microwave oven.
Therefore, the cooking program of the desired menu is called up when the operator selects the name of the menu category including the desired menu, and manipulates the special switch corresponding to the desired menu. The names of the menu categories serve in this case as an index when the operator searches for the special switch corresponding to the desired menu.
However, the above-described conventional coating program selection methods in the microwave oven have such drawbacks as follows.
In other words, according to the above-described first method, it is necessary to correctly input the menu code
without fail although it is impossible for the operator to remember all the menu codes . Therefore, it is inconveniently necessary for the operator to look into the cookbook every time the operator selects a menu.
Meanwhile, according to the above-described second method, the number of menus which can be indicated on the control unit panel is limited since the names of all the menus included in each category of menus are arranged to be indicated in the second method.
Although the menus are classified into respective categories in terms of attribute commonness, these menus will not cook an item
that
if it is to be cooked according to the cooking program of another category having different attributes for
example, chicken can not be cooked as well with the cooking program based on the basic cooking program of "domestic fowl", but can be cooked better with the cooking program based on the basic cooking program for "vegetables". It is impossible to always cook the food in the appropriate category. Because, if the cooking program is prepared for each category classified by attributes, the number of the menus entered in each category is lessened, thereby deteriorating the efficiency of the cooking programs.
On the other hand, if one category is set for menus which are based on one basic cooking program, the number of menus able to be entered in the one category is increased. However, the operator can not find the common attribute of the menus included in the one category. Therefore, it is impossible for the operator to decide instantaneously as to which category the desired menu belongs.
What is more important is that the above-described first and second methods are completely useless in the case where the operator has not decided what to eat.